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The world's first brain-to-brain connection has given rats the power to communicate by thought alone.
"Many people thought it could never happen," says Miguel Nicolelis at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. Although monkeys have been able to control robots with their mind using brain-to-machine interfaces, work by Nicolelis's team has, for the first time, demonstrated a direct interface between two brains – with the rats able to share both motor and sensory information.
And perhaps Mirror Neurons...
http://www.ted.com/talks/vs_ramachandran_the_neurons_that_shaped_civilization
I don't know if insects or animals or bacteria have ever developed telepathy. They say deep sea creatures communicate via fluorescence.
Greater consciousness could be any means to communicate via a medium that we as humans do not readily perceive. So... a blind rat might think our ability to communicate via hand signals, a "greater consciousness".
If there is life after death? That sort of consciousness? I don't know...
Luna Prey Said,
Let's consider death for a moment.. how do people die? There is really no such thing as "dying of old age".
Yeah, I don't know, sometimes it seems as if the will to live ceases in people. Other times if you ask me, their finite resources run out and they keel over due to expiry. We have something called a thymus gland and as soon as we reach puberty or maturity it begins to shrink. It is something like the size of a fist in our teens and smaller than a nickel in our later years. It is a key component of our immune system. Our immune system is working constantly. They do say that germ free mice extend their years buy something marginal, like 8% or something.
Anyways, the Russians have a history of developing life extending drugs with thymus gland hormones being the basis for their formulas. Expensive stuff.
That's the hamster-wheel perspective of life, Luna, you got it all wrong.
1. I know of a guy who lives in a lowest-rent basement flat in London, with next-to-zero income chipping away at whatever non-profit project he fancies. How can he afford such idle luxury? He spends most his weekends (& weekday meals too) being hauled from frugality to reckless uppest-crust abandon by family & friends (ex-school-mates, etc.) = sentimental ties. He hardly needs any money for lording it out.
2. I have an old friend, a ne'er-do-good poor devil. A Jew for that matter - contrary to the stereotype, eternally broke-ass. A good few times i availed of his goodwill (like driving across half the country & back), each time he refused any reimbursement saying "friends are not for that". He happens to be friends with from Hollywood to Mossad, so he's never in a tight spot financially when it comes to that. And he spreads the blessing around.
3. Etc.
See, the hype of cash/career advancement is nothing but a ploy designed for the gullible sorts to keep them useful in the rat race. Don't underestimate sentiment.
by Luna Preyyou should feel this way toward people with no respect for humanity, not with peeps who wana help it
If i understand, the gist of your post is one should selfishly cast away those who care with the ultimate goal of creating better things for them .
Tautological?
Great, this again. You keep repeating the "high purpose" mantra as if you're trying to convince yourself it's worth anything in the first place.
You've always had your parents and siblings to back you up and get you out of bad spots (not even sure if you've had enough of those). It'll come a time when you'll want a friend to be there for you, trust me.
by Luna PreyThe social creatures who have no ambitions, who choose to enjoy the moment because life is short.. They are taking on the philosophy that says.. well, I'm going to die anyway, not much I can do, I may as well suffer through this life in the easiest, and funnest way possible. I, on the other hand, don't feel quite so powerless.
That is such a pessimistic view.
Who are you to decide what gives a person power and what doesn't?
I have no ambitions and I don't feel powerless in the slightest. If anything, living in the moment is a powerful feeling because it gives me a sense of control over my life.
I don't feel like I'm "suffering through life". I enjoy living, probably even more than because I value each moment I'm alive and make the most of it when I can.
You never really know when you're going to die, so why not enjoy life while you're alive to live it. I'm not saying you shouldn't follow your goals and your dreams as well, but I think you're missing out on a lot if you don't have some fun while you're at it. One day you may look back and wish you had.